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03.16.13

Rand Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll

Senator Rand Paul at CPAC on Thursday. (Alex Wong/Getty)

Young voters are ruling CPAC. The libertarian Kentucky senator won CPAC’s Saturday night’s presidential straw poll—which many people consider an indicator of how the Republican Party will swing in 2016. Paul has been somewhat of a star at the annual convention for conservative voters, although he received real competition from Sarah Palin, whose theatrical sip from a Big Gulp nearly stole the show on Saturday. While CPAC used to just be for the fringes of the Republican Party, this year’s convention has brought out Mitt Romney (in his first public post-election appearance, no less), Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rand Paul, with Tea Party Texas Sen. Ted Cruz giving the keynote address on Saturday night.